Art of preparing nuts for food.



I To all whom it may concern:

snnnuo n. Non'roN, or rHonsBY, annnmmnssrenon ro oAnLE o. corrwar, or

, New YORK, N. Y.

ART 015' PREPARING NUTS FOR FOOD.

No Drawing.

Be it known that I, SERENO E. NoR'roN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Thorsby, inthe county of Chilton and State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Art of, Preparing Nuts for Food, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention relates to an improvement in the art of preparinglnuts for food, and it consists in the-process. ereinafter more fully set forth and the product thereof, and made the subject matter of claim.

By experiment I have discovered, and herein lies my invention, that'if nut meats, such as the meats of peanuts, are immersed for a short time in oil heated to a high degree, for example, 300 degrees Fahrenheit, the result is that the nut kernels become crispand tender, easily reduced to a powder. by mastication, and somewhat swelled or enlarged in size, and at the same time very much improved in flavor and digestibility. The flavor of the nut meats thus preparedis very different from that of the ordinary cooked nuts, and the consistency or character of the nut meats also quite, different, being tender where the ordinary cooked nut meats are tough. I employ oil or fatwhich does not become rancid in hot weather,

which does not thicken, nor scorch-at high temperature, and which will not take on any taste from the material cooking therein. I

prefer to use vegetable oil or fat, knownin the market as Crisco, and which will readily stand for a considerable time, a temperature above 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and in practice I prefer to raise this oil to a temperature of 400 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and immerse the nut meats from a minute and a quarter to a minute, the higher the temperature, the less the time of immersion required to eflect the result. Crisco, I am informed, is made out of peanut oil by a secret treat- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 24, 1912. Serial No. 705,447.

Patented une 3,1913.

ment that I do not know. But ordinary peanut oil will stand the proper high temperature and will answer the purpose quite as well as Crisco and may be used instead thereof. This high temperature operates to sear the outer surface ofthe nut meat, which seems to retain the flavor. The hot oil does not penetrate the nut meat, nor EH76 any of its own flavor thereto.- -The e ect of the highly heated oil and the sudden immersion of the nut meats therein is not only to cook, but in a measure. to disintegrate and partly pop or expand the entire structure of the nut, making it easily pulverlzable and quite changing the flavor thereof.

The product is entirely different in flavor and constitution or characteristics from any cooked nut meats that 1'. know of, and for this reason, I have given-it the'trade name of Popnut to distinguish it from the ordinary cooked or baked nuts. After the nut meats have thus been expanded or partly popped by this sudden immersion into the highly' heated oil, they may be I salted or sweetened as desired, or eaten plain.

I claim 1. The herein described process of treatingnut meats which consists in immersing the raw meats for a brief period of time not exceeding two minutes in a highlyheated' fatty medium, at a temperature not below 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. The herein'described process of treating nut meats which consists in immersing the raw meats for the brief period of one 'minute and a quarter to 'one minute in a highly heated fatty medium, at a temperature of 400 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. The product, consisting of nut meats partly popped in a hi%h1 heated oil. SER O E. NORTON.

Witnesses:

' GUY H. GERALD,

J. M. LANGSTON. 

